Flu hits SouthCoast hard

Wednesday

Jan 9, 2013 at 12:25 AMJan 9, 2013 at 8:05 AM

The flu is ripping through SouthCoast with a vengeance, hitting the area earlier and harder than in many a year. Already this season, Southcoast Health Systems has recorded 394 confirmed cases of influenza at its hospitals and other medical facilities. That compares to 105 cases for all of last year.

STEVE DeCOSTA

The flu is ripping through SouthCoast with a vengeance, hitting the area earlier and harder than in many a year.

Already this season, Southcoast Health Systems has recorded 394 confirmed cases of influenza at its hospitals and other medical facilities. That compares to 105 cases for all of last year.

The state Department of Public Health is reporting similarly dramatic numbers. Through Dec. 29, the DPH reported 784 confirmed cases in Southeastern Massachusetts (which includes Cape Cod), a huge increase from the 52 cases that had been confirmed at the same time last year.

And the number of confirmed cases is just the tip of the iceberg.

"Most of the people who get sick probably weather the storm at home without seeking medical care, so they're not getting tested and confirmed," said Robert J. Caldas, senior vice president and chief medical officer for Southcoast Health System.

The numbers also are up for the state and nation as a whole, with the federal Centers for Disease Control saying that 41 states, including Massachusetts, are reporting widespread influenza activity.

"It's pretty bad," said Cynthia Champagne, director of nursing at Greater New Bedford Community Health Center. "We've seen a whole lot of people with body aches, coughing and sniffling. We haven't seen it this bad in a long time."

Also unusual this year is that some people who were vaccinated are still getting the flu.

"Some of our staff had the vaccine and still got sick," Champagne said. "I think the (flu) strain mutates."

Vaccines are based on the strains of the flu that were prevalent in previous years, Caldas said. "The virus on its own can actually transform itself," sometimes emerging as a strain that is not prevented by the vaccine, he said.

The experts don't know why this flu season is starting earlier and what its full impact will be. Typically, the season peaks in February.

"We've certainly had an increase over last year, but we're not sure whether that means a larger outbreak overall or just a peak earlier in the season," Caldas said.

Schools are reporting slightly elevated absence rates since returning from the holiday break but nothing out of the ordinary.

"We have had an increase in the number of kids being sick and we're hearing more and more that kids are coming down with the flu," said Kim Corazzini, school nurse for the Old Rochester Regional School District.

"Some parents have been calling to say their kids have the flu," said Jeffrey Canastra, supervisor of attendance for Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational-Technical High School. "Our numbers are up over last year but it's nothing badly out of whack."

And if students have flu-like symptoms, the schools don't want to see them.

"Probably the biggest thing is getting the kids to stay home," Corazzini said.

"They need to be fever-free for 24 hours" before they return to classes, Canastra said.

Although they said patients with serious symptoms should get immediate care, hospital officials discouraged patients from seeking emergency room care with normal flu-like symptoms. First, the patient potentially would be exposing others to the flu. Second, if the patient doesn't actually have the flu, he or she could be exposed to other patients who do.

There's still time to get a flu vaccine, which Caldas said remains the best way to prevent the disease, but you should act quickly. It takes about two weeks for the vaccination to protect against the flu.

This year, Southcoast Health Systems required all of its employees to get a flu vaccine or wear a surgical mask while working within 6 feet of another individual. Under the new policy, 92 percent of Southcoast employees have been vaccinated, compared with 68 percent last year, spokeswoman Stephanie Poyant said.

With a similar policy, Greater New Bedford Community Health Center reported that 90 percent of its workers have been vaccinated.

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